Back and shoulder brace



(No Model.)

J. A. BASSETT.

- BACK AND SHOULDER BRAGE.

No. 596,839. Patented Jan. 4, 1898.

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BACK AND SHOULDER BRACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 596,839, dated January4, 1898.

Application filed February 24, 1897. Serial No. 624,815. (No model.)

To all whom zit may concern:

Be it known that I, Janus ANDREWS Bas- SETT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Albany, in the county of Shackelford and State ofTexas,have invented a new and useful Back-Support and Shoulder-Brace, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for strengthening and supporting theback and shoulders of persons engaged in occupations which requirestooping, and is particularly adapted for persons picking cotton orberries orperforming other work requiring them to bend forward.

The brace and supporter is constructed so as to be attached to the armsand legs of the wearer, and intermediate straps connect the arm and legstraps and are provided with elastic or spring connections which have atendency to hold the person in an erect position and which give andsupport the back when stooping.

For a full understanding of the merits and advantages of the inventionreference is to be had to the accompanying drawings and the followingdescription.

The improvement is susceptible of various changes in theform,proportion, and the minor details of construction without departingfrom the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof, and toa full disclosure of the invention an adaptation thereof is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows the invention applied.Fig. 2 is a view of the supporter and brace.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and designated in the views of the accompanying drawings bythe same reference-characters.

The supporter and brace comprises similar arm andleg straps 1 and 2,respectively, thighstraps 3, back-straps 4, and a shoulder-stay 5, thelatter connecting the arm-straps near their upper ends, so as to preventthem from slipping down upon the arms to the inconvenience of the wearerwhen the device is in service. The arm and leg straps are constructed soas to be adjusted to suit the form of the wearer, and the intermediateconnectingstraps are adapted to be lengthened and shortened for a likepurpose. The thigh-straps are attached at their lower ends to thelegstraps and cross intermediate of their ends and have their upperextremities provided with eyes or links 6, which receive hooks 7,applied to the lower ends of the back-straps 4, thereby admitting of thethigh and back straps being separable at the will of the wearer. Each ofthe back and thigh straps is provided with an elastic 7, which isattached at its extremities to the terminal of the strap, and thiselastic is shorter than the strap to which it is secured, so that undernormal conditions the strap is caused to bulge intermediate of its ends,as clearly indicated in Fig. 2. XVhen the supporter is applied, theelastics 7 normally support a person in an upright position and yieldsufficiently to admit of stooping, the tendency of the distended elasticto contract acting as ameans to support the back and obviate that tiredfeeling resulting from stooping. The straps 3 and it prevent theoverstretching of the elastics, which would otherwise result inrendering them unserviceable after a comparatively short time of use,and when the elastics are stretched to the limit of straightening thestraps the latter sustain the strain, while at the same time admittingof the contractile action of the clastics, tending to support andstraighten the back.

The device can be worn by accountants, clerks, mechanics, and otherswhose calling require them to stoop, so as to support the back, bracethe shoulders, and obviate the languid feeling resulting from performingwork in a stooping position.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. In aback-support, the combination of connected arm-straps, back-strapssecured at their upper ends to'the arm-straps, crossing thigh-strapsdetachably connected at their upper ends with the lower extremities ofthe back-straps, and leg-straps applied to the lower terminals of thethigh-straps, substantially in the manner set forth for the purposespecified.

2. A back-support and shoulder-brace,comprising leg and arm straps,back-straps connected at their upper ends with the armstraps,thigh-straps connected at their lower ends with the leg-straps and attheir upper ends with the lower end of the back-strap,

10 straps, and elastics applied to the back and thigh straps andnormally causing them to bulge, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

11 JAMES 5 ANDREWS BASSETT.

mark WVitnesses J. A. KING, W. A. WILLIAMS.

